Cisco College coach David White was mum about the actions that led to his team being eliminated from the National Junior College Athletic Association Region V tournament and ended the Wranglers' season with 14 straight wins and no place to go.

His counterpart from McLennan Community College, Mitch Thompson, was just the opposite. He had plenty to say to the Waco Herald-Tribune. He didn’t blame the Wranglers and, in fact, was complimentary of the job White and his assistants did to stop a minor skirmish at home plate from escalating into something far worse. Thompson called out the NJCAA for its ruling and said it was a shame that the two best teams in the region couldn’t settle who was best on the field.

Instead, Temple College, which lost to both the Highlanders and Cisco in the tournament, will represent the region.

The stakes were high as a Wrangler win would have sent them to the JUCO World Series and a loss would have necessitated a second game between the teams.

The situation was as follows: Cisco came to bat in the sixth inning trailing 11-8. William Hollis reached base and scored on a hit to left field that shaved the deficit to two runs and left Wranglers at second and third. McLennan catcher Nick Thornquist got into Hollis’ face and bumped him. Hollis reacted and shook his head. By then, players had left both dugouts with coaches close behind to thwart any escalation.

No punches were thrown. The entire incident, according to one who was there and watched the video, lasted 20 seconds. But an NJCAA rule was broken. According to Article XVIII, “an ejection for violent behavior is an act in which any bench personnel other than the head coach (or in the absence of the head coach the acting head coach) leave the bench area when a fight may break out or has broken out.”

The rule, however, was specifically written under the headline “Personnel Leaving the Bench During an Altercation – Basketball.”

Thompson was outspoken calling the ruling “nothing short of a travesty.” He said he thought NJCAA officials were too quick to “enforce the letter of the law” without reviewing the actual situation.

White did not comment. One of his top players, Wylie product MacK Mueller, was diplomatic when asked about the situation.

Wylie's MacK Mueller

“It’s tough,” said Mueller, who finished with a .443 batting average. “Obviously, I’ve had a couple days to think about it. There is nothing we can do about it. Honestly, we didn’t have any issues with McLennan during our season series and even if coaches hadn’t come out on the field I do not feel it would have escalated. We would have liked to go to the world series. Unfortunately, it didn’t end that way.”

The teams met four times during the regular season with the Wranglers winning three. McLennan (44-15) dropped its first game of the region tournament before working its way through the loser’s bracket to meet Cisco, which was 3-0.

The Wranglers completed a 52-6 season with 14 straight wins, not including the final game. They set school records for most wins and least losses. Their team batting average was .402. Previously, Cisco College had participated in the World Series in 2016 (48-16 record) and 2012 (48-15).

“It was a talented team that I felt could do something great,” Mueller said. “It is definitely a situation where we were all upset. It is what it is.”